The Path & Portal.
The Path of Initiation.
"It is all one path, but the Path of Initiation has to be trodden consciously by the thinker functioning through the central organ in the head, and from there intelligently traversing the Path which leads through the three worlds to the realm or kingdom of the soul. It might be stated here that the awakening of the heart centre leads a man to consciousness of the source of the heart centre within the head. This in turn leads a man to the twelve-petalled lotus, the egoic centre on the higher levels of the mental plane. The path from the heart centre to the head, when followed, is the reflection in the body of the building of the antaskarana (Ed. The Rainbow Bridge) on the mental plane. “As above, so below." The Light of the Soul, by Alice A. Bailey.
The term initiation has been much abused in esoteric circles, being to some the equivalent of joining an exclusive club and to others an opportunity for "dress ups". In fact some teachers will not use the term for fear it will provoke glamour in the student. However, it simply refers to the expansions of consciousness that emerge for us as we walk the Path. These expansions are usually preceded by struggle, challenge and even resistance to the increased awareness that places a greater share of responsibility on the shoulders of the initiate. A responsibility to the kingdoms of nature and their overseers, the Hierarchy. Hence, an initiation marks the achievement of a certain level of insight and release into greater Light and Love and is more in the nature of a recognition of attainment.
In order to have a successful journey it can be helpful to have a map to orient oneself so I offer the following overview of the stages of the Path which the Master DK has outlined. While the true journey transcends both time and space knowing the signposts along the way can help reality test one's potentially grandiose notions of progress and aid in right orientation. Both in terms of where you have come from and where you are heading.
Path of Probation
If the normal developmental stages of life have been achieved and the physical, emotional and mental vehicles and are aligned and co-ordinated with each other one has developed an integrated personality which can have an impact on life. In other words you can achieve your goals. This is the stage known as "selfish influence" where you may be very successful in what you do and yet have no real sense of the soul or the importance of love and service. The owner of a small business who thinks driving a Mercedes and having a turnover of a millions dollars is the sine qua non of life would be a good example of this stage. Even leading figures in society who the world envies are often still at this stage. There has been no awakening of the soul.
Then we have the stage of the Aspirant. After you attain some goals and success there may come a time when you sense the presence of the soul in some way, quite often after having experienced the futility and suffering that a full immersion in the life of the senses tends to elicit in your life. Feeling there must be something more to life you experience the "crisis of evocation" during which your questioning and yearning evokes a response from the soul which releases some experience or contact with your spiritual nature. It may be an experience of light or bliss or unconditional love and its beauty contrasts strongly with what you may have previously known. Perhaps the term "born again", describes something of the process.
This then spurs you on to reflect on selfishness, your values and behaviours in a discerning way and you start thinking about how to live a purer, more noble life. You recognise the need to curb your physical appetites and so the shift is from a focus on sex, drugs and rock and roll towards creative expression of a higher order. One feels the urge to express your personality life and may start trying to purify yourself through diet and practicing values, to try and embody that which still remains something of a dream into everyday life. Hence the stage is about purification and paradoxically it can make us more preoccupied with self than before we started. It becomes harder to have that second piece of chocolate cake without feeling you are letting yourself down! There is a focus on your virtues and vices and you gain an inkling of the effort required to shift the habits of ages.
By this stage you may have been attracted to a large spiritual group where you can share in the work of purification and share the journey with others. This stage ends with the attainment of the First Initiation by which point some control over the physical appetites is emerging. There is a shift of consciousness from the physical to the emotional plane. Aspiration and desire remain strong and the focus shifts from the Sacral to the Throat chakra.
The Portal of Initiation
We pass through many portals of initiation in our lifetime including birth, childhood, adolescence, middle age and death. The spiritual portals are as natural to our growth as these normal developmental stages but are precipitated by our Soul's need to progress, rather than typical life development. The path of initiation shifts the focus from mundane human endeavour to spiritual identity and consequently challenges much that we hold dear on the material plane. It requires increasing levels of detachment and dispassion from desires and ego-based motivations.
If initiations have been achieved in previous lives the soul will experience a recapitulation of each in the current life until it reaches the previous point of attainment. Hence the Master Jesus experienced the Birth (1st), Baptism (2nd) and Transfiguration (3rd) initiations in relatively rapid succession in the first 30 years of His life.
The first two initiations are conducted by the Christ, who is the head of the Spiritual Hierarchy while the latter three are directed by Sanat Kumara, the Planetary Logos. These latter initiations lead to a growing identification with the divine Will and the recognition that we are simply intelligent cells within the body of this vast Being. We also become group conscious and function in co-operation with Hierarchy in manifesting the divine Will, which is known in esoteric circles as the Plan.
The following outline of the first 5 initiations for our Humanity are intended as a general sketch. As D.K. is at pains to point out, it is the soul which takes the initiation. The personality life when it goes with the process, simply experiences the effect in terms of an increased understanding, capacity to love, serve and channel the will of the Planetary Logos.
First Initiation - Birth - The Aspirant
As previously indicated this stage marks the attempt to modify the more obvious bad habits and achieve a greater sense of alignment with the soul.
2nd Initiation - Baptism - The Disciple
This stage brings an awareness of the troublesome nature of desire and the emotions and the lower will. The aspirant notes the way desire stimulates negative emotions and destabilises the mind. The centre of gravity moves from the Solar Plexus chakra, seat of the lower mind and will, to the Heart, thus bringing a growing awareness of the needs of others. The attention also moves to the intellectual life and the battle between reason and emotion. The disciple needs to address the glamours that identification with emotional self interest brings to him. The movement is from mere self-interest to taking into account the larger group.
There then comes a time when we approach the Portal of Initiation, a doorway beyond which lies greater vision of the divine Plan, an enhanced sphere of influence and a clearer service orientation. In approaching the Portal there is a need for both humility and courage, humility to recognise when a power greater than us is beckoning, and courage because all that is regressive in our nature must be faced. That regression mainly expresses itself as fear. The polarities in our nature are often exposed at the time of initiation because the expansion of consciousness can only occur when the mind and its opposites are transcended.
3rd Initiation - Transfiguration - The Genius
Most teachers regard this as the first major initiation and it is at this point that the soul comes forward and infuses the personality with its qualities of love and light. We learn mental control and use techniques to heal our own and others lives. The Brow becomes for a time the centre of awareness. The personality comes under the control of the higher mind and there is a gradual access to the subtle worlds of the higher mental plane through the awakening third eye. A sense of one's Soul path becomes clearer and a service orientation emerges, as do various seer ship abilities.
This stage represents the emergence of an integrated personality, one that can impact on its environment. Whatever field the person is serving within, he or she is able to manifest the qualities of the Soul. Whether we speak of artists, visionaries, educators, politicians or businesss people, they inspire higher thought and deeds through their activities.
4th Initiation - Crucifixion/Renunciation - The Prophet
Detachment from the personality life is the true meaning of renunciation and this is what occurs at the fourth initiation. Fourth degree Initiates relinquish their personality attachments and are driven by their exposure to the Plan to share their wisdom through teaching and healing activities on worldwide basis.
They often have some control over the forces of nature and are channels for planetary and solar energies that stimulate our planetary evolution. Their activities can appear miraculous but are simply based on their alignment with the creative point of Spirit, through which all manifestation flows in a sublime outpouring. The focus is on the Heart Chakra within the head centre - the 12 petalled lotus, and the Buddhic plane of intuitive love.
This is the stage when the "Dweller on the Threshold", the personality image of our many incarnations is dispersed through contact with the Angel of the Presence (the soul). This can be experienced as the death of all one held dear in one's individuality. Thus a major battle can ensue between Dweller and Angel.
5th Initiation - Revelation - The Master or Adept.
At this initiation the individual life becomes one with the Divine and the centre of focus moves to the plane of Spiritual Will. The Monad destroys the Causal body or Grail and the essence of the Soul's wisdom is taken up by it. "I am One with my Father in Heaven." Here we have the realised Soul or Master, who is completely detached from the 3 lower worlds, but who chooses to remain to serve those still focused on the planes of matter.
This advance comes about through the raising of energy from the Base to the Crown centre, the channel to the spiritual worlds. Shakti flows up to union with Shiva. These are Masters of life in the true meaning of the phrase.
There are higher initiations than these, but they relate to the nine expansions through which the Planetary Logos must pass to rise to the 2nd Cosmic Initiation.
It can be helpful to contemplate the attainments and capacities described above but the initiations aren't as neat and tidy or incremental, as the description might suggest. There are minor cycles occurring within each major one and these are described elswehere as the Lesser Mysteries. All one can say is that all of the lessons must be learnt before definitive progress can be made.
Invitation
Humans do not initiate others, though they may act as vehicles through which initiatory energies and forces are channelled. The main role for human teachers is to prepare people through training in meditation, service and self-knowledge. If you are interested in such training please contact John at the Foundation
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